


Brûlée milk tea 0% sugar

by Anonymous



Category: NCT (Band), NINE PERCENT (Band), SuperM (Korea Band), 乐华七子NEXT | NEX7, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bubble Tea Shop, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossover Pairings, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Miscommunication
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23745535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: In the 2/10/12 lesson of TED-Ed, “Why do competitors open their stores next to one another?”, the simple answer is that companies like to keep their competition as close as possible. Just because ZhengTing understands it doesn’t mean he likes it. Especially when one of the only other bubble tea shops in the area just so happens to open directly across from theirs. Now it’s up to him and his completely unbothered team to try and compete with the new kids on the block. Add a hot, new regular and ZhengTing’s got his cup full, 100% ice, no sugar :(
Relationships: Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas/Zhu Zhengting | Jung Jung
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Classic Bubble Milk Tea

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, I don’t know how running a bubble tea, or any business for that matter, works, so suspension of disbelief is highly recommended.

The very first thing ZhengTing remembers from his job at NEXT is the “For lease” sign. Across the only bubble tea shop in his local shopping mall was a derelict space, covered in tattered “For lease” stickers, and a large, worn out and greying sign with the same two words. 

From his first time handing in his resume, to his very first training session, first shift, first time as floor manager, it’s always been there. Whether he’d be absent-mindedly looking around, or busy rushing to serve customers, it always existed in the corner of his eye. He’d grown accustomed to it, finding it comforting in a strange way. 

Which is why he couldn’t believe it took him until the end of his current shift to realise something was different. 

“Hey, ChengCheng, is it just me, or is something different about the space across us?”

“Jesus Christ your eyes have gotten worse. It says…” ChengCheng pauses to squint. “Sold, new store coming soon…”

“Oh my God! The sons of bitches actually managed to sell it.” 

“Don’t swear on the job XinChun.” 

“Hope it’s a Louis Vuitton, or a Ulysse Nardin.” ChengCheng deadpans. 

“Don’t wear your sunglasses on the job ChengCheng.” ZhengTing sighs, trying and failing to snatch them off ChengCheng’s smug face. 

“Wow, is a floor manager of a bubble tea store really going to lay their peasant hands on my Ferragamo sunglasses?” 

“Is a minimum wage worker of a bubble tea store really going to get fired over some sunglasses?” ZhengTing shoots back. 

ChengCheng scowls at that and begrudgingly removes them, pulling out his specialised Ferragamo sunglass case to store his oh so precious Ferragamo sunglasses. ZhengTing rolls his eyes. He’d gotten them for barely a week and already ZhengTing was ready to rip them off his face and Kobe them into the trash compactor. A new world record. 

That was all that came of the new sign until gradually, it was getting harder to ignore the changes. 

'For lease' stickers being ripped off, construction boards being put around the store. Official looking people moving in, out, and around the space. 

“Please, please, please, in the name of our Lord and saviour Mont Blanc, be a luxury brand.” chants ChengCheng. 

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the metaphorical dust settled and a store was finally revealed! 

Really all that appeared was a futuristic-looking sign, ‘WayV' in sleek and metallic bold letters over a glass entrance and a black curtain covering anything beyond that. 

Well, ChengCheng isn’t excited at all so it’s definitely not some boujee luxury brand. But none of the others know what it means either. 

Oh well, it’s not like ZhengTing cares that much about what pops up there. The space has been in the purgatory of 'For lease' for ages, so it’s a breath of fresh air and it'll probably be good business. Although ZhengTing would be lying if he said he wouldn't miss the anchor of that space being forever unused. Well whatever, as long at it doesn’t interfere with NEXT, he couldn’t care less about it. 

Oh how wrong he was.

It all started when the curtain was finally pulled off and revealed a cafe setting. Industrial furniture and a grey, metallic backdrop pulled off the uncanny balance of both cool and inviting. A big contrast to NEXT’s own cozy comfy setting of wooden furniture and potted plants.

“A cafe down this end huh?” WenJun comments. 

“I know right, we already exist,” ZhengTing replies, leaning on him. 

“Well I mean, we’ve got no food.” 

“And who, pray tell, is coming to a bubble tea store for the delicious food?”

At that point, WenJun shrugs him off and goes to check on the milk and water levels in the machines. ZhengTing is trying to be casual about this, but something feels… off. He is left standing there, still staring at WayV like a madman. He has a weird feeling about this. 

That weird feeling only builds when he sees people moving machinery and equipment looking suspiciously like what you use in a bubble tea shop. No… There’s no way… There’s a lot of crossover between coffee and bubble tea. Both involving plants to create a flavoured drink. Both kind of overrated by a particular demographic and cheap to produce, but expensive to sell. There’s absolutely no way the only other bubble tea shop in this entire area would have the balls to open right across from them. Being the optimist that he is, ZhengTing gives them the benefit of the doubt. He wants, no, needs this to not be what he thinks it is. 

When ZhengTing officially breaks is during one of his lunch breaks. After a boring meal, he goes to dump the trash and as soon as he lays eyes on the cursed object, he basically gets an aneurism. And yes, maybe he doesn’t actually know what an aneurism means, but he knows it’s bad enough to describe his absolute shock and horror. He ends up dragging along a reluctant WenJun on his day off to gawk at the sign, like the monster it is. ZhengTing jabs an accusatory finger at it. 

A colourful, eye-catching poster advertising Wayv’s first opening week with half-price drinks across the whole menu. And how could they have guessed? Of course, it couldn’t be a cafe. Of course, it couldn’t have been a restaurant. Out of the hundreds of thousands of ways people have been serving food and drinks throughout the entirety of human civilization, it couldn’t have been literally any other type of eating/drinking establishment. 

It had to be a freaking bubble tea shop!

“Shop 103! Right in front of our freaking store! The audacity! Weren’t they supposed to be a cafe?” ZhengTing grits out. 

“We all knew” WenJun timidly admits, “I mean, when you bring in a fructose dispenser, what else are you expecting…” He trails off as he notices ZhengTing’s ice-cold stare. 

“22nd…two weeks from now…” 

“You wanna shoot an email to higher up asking if we could do some deals or something?” WenJun asks. 

“Yeah, Yeah let’s try that,” ZhengTing says nothing more on the subject, but his mind is haunted by the upcoming opening week of WayV.

“Whelp, we finally got a reply back, and guess what they said?” Justin’s words were laced with disdain, as they usually were when he was talking about NEXT’s franchisor and higher management. 

“A big, fat, fu-flipping NO.” He crosses his arms for extra effect. 

“Well, how awfully kind of them to tell us the morning of.” XinChun rolls his eyes. 

ZhengTing is too busy death staring the long, heaping line of people in front of the store to chime in. For as long as ZhengTing can remember, NEXT had always been extremely busy all the time. From the moment they open to the closing of the doors, there would always be someone in, buying and/or consuming their products. 

As of WayV’s opening, no one had set foot in NEXT that morning. Sellouts! No one’s above half price bubble tea, even in the face of their old regular. ZhengTing can see some of NEXT’s regulars standing in line and tries turning his glare onto them, to no avail. Everyone just wants to get their hands on WayV’s half price, bitch ass tea. 

Justin and XinChun have preoccupied themselves under the counter with Justin’s Switch, and for once, ZhengTing can’t bring himself to scold them. There’s nothing to do, and he doesn’t feel like trying. Just a glance at WayV’s bustling business makes ZhengTing want to melt into the medium-sized cups they have on display. He contemplates joining Justin and XinChun’s game when he notices movement from the side of his eye. He spins around madly like a Beyblade, and to his utter surprise, someone has walked through the threshold of NEXT!

ZhengTing is no stranger to hot customers, getting quite a few who are always happy to bat their eyelashes and smile sweetly to get a free topping or upsize, and ZhengTing is always happy to give it to them.

But the fact that this man is not only the hottest customer ZhengTing has seen in a while, but also the first to step through the starving jaws of NEXT make ZhengTing want to fall to his knees. He refrains and tries his best not to jump in the air and whoop as the tall, dark and handsome saviour swaggers up to the counter. ZhengTing kicks Justin and XinChun and flashes his most dazzling smile, ready for business. 

“Hi, welcome to NEXT, how can I help you?” 

The guy smiles a rakish, crooked grin which ZhengTing tries his hardest not to melt to. He looks up at the menu, and takes his time, peering up at the different flavours and toppings. ZhengTing snatches this chance to gaze at his cute silkworm eyes, his luscious lips, his- 

“Hmm, I dunno, what does the chef recommend?” The stranger finishes with a wink. Oh, Lord Almighty. 

“Me- ahh, My recommendation would probably be the… Brûlée milk tea. It’s really good if you have a sweet tooth. We also have-“

“Hell yeah, I’ll take a regular one of those then, 100% sugar, less ice.” 

“Sure,” ZhengTing inputs in the order. “I’ll even make the upsize free.” 

“Oh legit?” 

“Of course, anything for our first customer.” He grits out through his widest smile. Tilting his head towards WayV, the customer follows his movement and laughs sheepishly. 

The receipt is printed out and he hands it to Justin and XinChun, who, literally having nothing else to do, already start on the order. 

Which leaves ZhengTing to more important matters…

“Haven’t seen you around before, are you new here?” 

“Yeah, moved in a few weeks ago.” 

“You liking it here?” 

“Yeah definitely, it’s a great town!”

ZhengTing is surprised at this. Such a boring town would be the last thing he'd ever consider ‘great', especially if you were the Greek God standing in front of him. Whatever, to each their own. 

“It’s not big, but I’ve lived here my whole life.” This time it’s ZhengTing doing the batting of the eyelashes. “I’d be glad to show you around if you’re unfamiliar.” 

Flirting is a very unstable and frankly tiring activity to participate in it. There are too many variables to consider in the equation. Does the other party think you’re attractive? Do they like being flirted with in this particular moment? Are they even smart enough to pick up what you’re putting down? This is why ZhengTing never initiates a move. Until today apparently. 

ZhengTing would be lying if he said it’s because he wasn’t bored out of his mind, but he’d also be lying if he said it wasn’t because the guy smiling at him was drop-dead gorgeous. Good thing ZhengTing’s such a morally just person. His fingers are crossed under the counter and his breathing has all but slowed to nothing. 

“Really? That’d be great actually, I moved with a bunch of my friends, but they’re also not that familiar with the place.” 

“Cool cool, well I’m Zhu ZhengTing, you can just call me ZhengTing, or JungJung if that’s easier.” 

“Well ZhengTing, I’m Huang XuXi, great to meet you.” 

XuXi holds out his hand and by God, is it huge. The size, look and feel of XuXi’s hand is awakening feelings even ZhengTing didn’t know he could feel. After shaking his hand, he hastily writes his number down. He’s got to get XuXi on his own, and not at work, where yes, he can see Justin and XinChun snorting at their interaction like absolute gremlins. After they finish making the tea, ZhengTing grabs it to give to XuXi. 

XuXi thanks him and leaves, but not without flashing another dazzling smile to ZhengTing as he inwardly swoons and waves him out. It almost makes him forget that no one else came to their store after that.


	2. Thai Style Milk Tea

_Hey, it’s XuXi, from the other day, does 11am next Thursday sound good 2 u? :)))))))_

ZhengTing yells in triumph, jumping up and down.

_Yes, for sure, outside NEXT?_

_Yah sure man, see you then xppppp_

Sure, it might be 10:30 am, and ZhengTing’s hovering around NEXT, trying to get ChengCheng to stop browsing through LV’s online store while he’s serving someone (Thank the lord! Customers today, though still nothing in comparison to WayV), but in his defence, he hasn’t been on an actual, proper date in ages. Especially with someone who looks like ~him~. 

“ZhengTing, we’ll be fine.” QuanZhe sighs exasperatedly. “Just chill and go have fun.” 

“I know you and ZeRen will, but this” He jabs ChengCheng in the ribs. “Please, just, make sure he doesn’t say out loud to the customer that their contour and highlighter combo is making him blind.”

“It’s an actual safety hazard you know.” 

Quanzhe reassures him while ChengCheng just pulls faces and an hour goes by surprisingly fast. 

ZhengTing notices the tall, brown head of hair belonging to XuXi approaching, and makes the staff “Shut up and don’t embarrass me.” They either wish him luck or roll their eyes and ZhengTing squints in the reflective countertop for one last check before spinning around to greet XuXi and…

It’s not just XuXi. Oh. 

Standing behind him are two considerably shorter guys. They both have killer jawlines and cheekbones, jet black hair, and the same air as two cliche ninja/hitman/bodyguards always surrounding the mafia/triad boss in a gangster movie. 

Speaking of the boss… XuXi is impeccably dressed in all black. His turtleneck pulls beautifully tight over his defined muscles, and his black slacks lengthen his already long legs. ZhengTing is head empty, no thoughts until XuXi starts talking. 

“Yo ZhengTing! Great to see you again. These are my friends.” He gestures behind him. “They’re some of the ones that moved with me and they wanted to tag along! I hope that’s ok with you.” He finishes with a bright smile. 

The slightly shorter one lifts a small, pale hand. His numerous silver rings glint and glitter in the store lighting. He regards ZhengTing with sharp, cat-like eyes and a mysterious smile. 

“YongQin. Or Ten. They’re all me.” 

The slightly taller one waves his hand and nods, sharp features softening when he flashes an awkward smile. 

“Hey man, what’s up, I’m Xiao DeJun but Xiao Jun is fine.”

ZhengTing hopes that his disappointment isn’t obvious as he waves back at the two third-wheelers (fourth-wheelers?) and introduces himself. 

XuXi claps his hands together and beams at ZhengTing. “Well, ready to get this show on the road gang?” 

It’s too hard to deny that smile, and all ZhengTing can do is nod and gesture towards the door. He looks behind him and sees QuanZhe sympathetically shrug and ChengCheng open-mouth, sticking his tongue out and shaka-ing. ZhengTing just rolls his eyes at him and follows behind the trio, forgetting that he’s supposed to be the tour guide here. 

They circle around the shopping mall, and really, what is there to show? Every mall around the country has a Target, a H&M, a Uniqlo, etc etc etc. He tries not to feel too dispirited and makes small talk with them all. 

“We all did casual work together, then we were relocated and moved up north-west,” YongQin explains, riffling through clothes racks.

“Yeah, you know that suburb down south-ish? Like a 5 hour drive? From there.” XiaoJun adds. 

“Ahhh, interesting.” ZhengTing nods but his eyes are on XuXi, and the man looks back, smiling his sweet, sweet grin until XiaoJun nudges XuXi, points at something and they laugh. 

ZhengTing doesn’t understand why. Sigh. 

It’s hard trying to get XuXi on his own, both conversationally and literally. They are so well oiled as friends, finishing each other’s sentences, supporting each other’s statements and laughing at each other's inside jokes. Jesus Christ, ZhengTing may as well be in love with XuXi's entire friend group if this is gonna be the norm. He panics a bit when YongQin affectionately calls XuXi 'baby', but this soon diffuses as he refers to XiaoJun, various retail workers, and even someone he accidentally bumped into with various other pet names. ZhengTing feels it’s just way too hard and a bit rude to try and break the tight chain of their friendship just because ZhengTing is kinda sorta maybe madly in love with XuXi. He considers making a work-related excuse and bailing out, but then XuXi proclaims that he’s hungry and asks if the rest of them want to eat. 

ZhengTing supposes that he could stay a little while longer, if only just to eat and stare at that god-like face. They go to the nearby burger place and everyone except XuXi sits down. 

“Y’all order first. I gotta go pee.” He throws up a peace sign and leaves the three to awkward silence. 

ZhengTing is sitting across from YongQin and XiaoJun, and is about to comment on YongQin’s rings until YongQin pipes up. 

“I know what you’re trying to do,” YongQin says lightly. “You have a crush on XuXi don’t you~”

“Wha- I- No… ’m…” ZhengTing stammers as YongQin serenely smiles. XiaoJun’s eyebrows raise up. 

“Babe chill. This isn’t an interrogation” YongQin starts to smirk. "It’s just so obvious.” 

“…….Really?” ZhengTing is beet red and pointedly staring down at the wooden table. 

“It’s cute, he’s a sweet guy." YongQin continues to smirk at ZhengTing, eyes curling up in amusement. "I’ll tell you what, XiaoJun and I are going to leave you two alone~.” He wiggles his eyebrows for effect. 

“Just tell him that Kun’s got some administration stuff to sort out and we have to help him.”

“Wait seriously? I really wanted to eat here though…” Xiao Jun sighs. 

“We’ll come here some other time.”

“But-“

“Hush, child” He gets up and drags XiaoJun with him, but not before turning to look ZhengTing dead in the eye. It’s a little(lot) intimidating for ZhengTing. 

“But you must know, there’s no such thing as a free lunch right? I might need something one day and you’d be happy to help hmm?” His smile widens into something mysterious and ZhengTing tries to reply but is stopped by a hand wave goodbye and YongQin drags XiaoJun away just as XuXi comes out of the washroom. 

“Hey, where did YongQin and XiaoJun go?” 

“Uhh, apparently Kun’s got some administration stuff to sort out and they have to help him?….” 

“Oh damn… Well, you guys ordered yet?”

“Ah, no, it’s just us now.” 

“Ah, I’m starving, man.” He plops down across from him and scrutinises the menu. ZhengTing smiles and nods as he tries not to think too hard about what YongQin has just made him agree to…


	3. Black Sugar Bubble Milk Tea

“So what did you think of them?” XuXi asks through a mouthful of fries 

“Your friends?” ZhengTing has to think for a bit. “They’re… pretty interesting. I like them.” 

“Haha yeah, they’re pretty weird, but trust me, you'll love them. You guys will get along no problem.” He grins with a mouthful of food, and ZhengTing can’t help but laugh. That gets XuXi laughing too, and ZhengTing feels a little easier with XuXi. 

After they eat, they walk around, and ZhengTing internally whoops. He finally gets his alone time!!!! Now comes the hard part, trying to talk to him. 

“…….So what do you like doing?” 

“Yo, I love sports and exercising! I actually do javelin, did it since middle school.” He brings his hand up to run his fingers through his hair, unconsciously flexing his bicep. ZhengTing tries not to stare but is failing miserably. XuXi notices, takes his hand and puts it on his bicep. Is this heaven? ZhengTing’s already giddy about the fact they’re alone, and tests his thot waters out. He lightly squeezes down, making XuXi giggle. 

“Wow that is- that is rock hard my god.” 

“Haha really? Like it’s not much but at least there’s a bit.” He smirks and ZhengTing tightens his grip on for dear life, but XuXi doesn’t seem to mind at all. 

ZhengTing’s heart is hammering in his chest. It’s come to this huh. Dare he go full hoe and show off his abs? It’s hard to gauge but there’s a playful light in XuXi’s eyes and ZhengTing always been a dramatic, do or die kinda guy. 

“I also really love sports, been swimming and doing gymnastics like, before I could even walk.” He says, trailing the other’s hand to his abs. What the hell was ZhengTing from 10 seconds ago thinking! Forget doing, he might as well just die! On God, he really wants to sink into the ground and never see the light of day again. The audacity of some bitches. It’s him. He’s some bitches. He’s about to apologise and gfto until XuXi’s eyes widen comically and he lets out a low whistle. 

“Jesus man you are stacked!” He presses a bit and it’s taking ZhengTing his entire being not to make any incriminating sounds. His hand is so big, the fingers almost wrap around to his back. 

“Bro, we should totally go down to the beach together or something.” 

“Oh my god I’d love that.” 

“Like, my other friends are into fitness but not super into it, you know what I mean?” 

A common point without his other friends! Score! 

He vigorously nods his head in agreement and they both go into detail about what kind of sports they like and dislike, and ZhengTing has to dredge up every last piece of knowledge he’s overheard ChengCheng and XinChun talk about in regards to basketball. Maybe they didn’t deserve the flick to their foreheads for badgering the customers about the NBA finals? Eh, it’s too late to rectify. 

All in all, the outing has gone much better than ZhengTing expected. When they part, XuXi even goes in for a hug! Progress amirite lads? He basks in the warmth of his huge, jacked arms until they separate, by which ZhengTing beams while waving him off, then immediately races back to NEXT. 

“It was amazing, did you know how big his arms are? I feel like I’m going to cry. His smile is sooooo cute and beautiful, I swear I would actually die for that smile. I’m- Ahhhhh!!!!” 

He jumps up and down to ZeRen, who is screaming with him too and trying to high five him. Even ChengCheng’s smile is genuine as he applauds for ZhengTing’s big fat W today. 

“We should celebrate, I know a really good bubble tea shop, right across us-” ChengCheng snorts, before getting whacked by QuanZhe. 

Guess some things never change. 

“You gonna continue seeing him?” QuanZhe asks. 

ZhengTing tries to smile mysteriously for dramatic effect, but the thought of seeing XuXi again means he just ends up with a big ol’ sappy grin on his face and the rest of the team smirk at each other with a knowing look as they start chanting the age-old adage. 

“ZhengTing and XuXi sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…”

Time flies when you’re having fun, and by God has ZhengTing had the time of his life. It's their 5th date (He knows it’s officially "friends hanging out" but let him have this), ZhengTing and XuXi are comparing hand sizes and giggling like giddy preschoolers. XuXi’s hands are insanely big and his fingers are beautifully long, double-jointed and lined with faint vein lines, like a magnificent butterfly with intricate wings. ZhengTing thinks they belong in a museum. Heck, XuXi’s entire being deserves to be immortalised as the only man to ever exist in his love-struck eyes. Their fingers are wrapped together tightly and ZhengTing swears death could walk right up to him, and he’d be more than happy to go. 

His fingers catch on the bulky ring that XuXi has on. It’s a very chunky and extravagant ring, with a silver cross set on a golden base. ZhengTing noticed that XuXi has always worn that ring on his right index finger, and he can’t help his curiosity. 

“You really love this ring huh?” He points out. “What’s the story behind it?” 

At that, XuXi’s smile becomes very tender as he starts to fiddle with it. 

“During training for work, I made a few friends and we were hanging out together and we walked past this Hot Topic. We just like, were dicking around in it I guess and then Baekhyun, or Taemin? Definitely either one of those two. Well, they saw these rings and there just so happened to be 7 of them for the 7 of us there! So we just bought them as like a gag, spur of the moment thing. But they really stuck with us, y’know? Like we just kept wearing them.” He pauses, smile falling a bit as he stops fiddling with his ring.

“We kinda separated into different cities.” He sighs. “I don’t really get to see them a lot, well except for YongQin, he moved with me!” 

XuXi perks up a bit, the classic rakish grin appearing on his face. 

“But you know what? I’m pretty glad I moved here.” 

“Why?” ZhengTing replies coyly. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t know what was coming next. Hello, seasoned flirter here! Still, it’s not like he’s going to pretend he’s not currently floating on cloud nine because of this cheese right now. 

“Because I met you.” XuXi can’t help himself, it seems, as he breaks into a wide, bashful smile and tightly clasps ZhengTing’s hands. 

God this is so cringy and embarrassing and ZhengTing is loving every minute of it. They walk around, disgustingly enamoured with each other’s entire being. There’s a slight change though. ZhengTing has realised through these outings that XuXi is extremely transparent. He watches XuXi furrow his brows and part his lips slightly, and by God, he can basically hear the cogs turning in XuXi’s brain. He must be extremely deep in thought, ZhengTing thinks. He watches XuXi’s eyes dart around, and feels the grip on his hands tighten, fingers curling up against his own, especially around his pinky finger. While it was cute at first, this level of secret concentration is seriously starting to weird ZhengTing out. 

“…So, what were you-“

“I have to pee!” 

“…” 

Before ZhengTing can say anything, XuXi throws his trademark peace symbol up and bolts. ZhengTing is left standing there, completely dumbfounded. Did I just get ghosted? In real life? ZhengTing slowly starts to pace back and forth. Ok, no big deal, maybe he’s really going to the bathroom. Maybe his furrowed eyebrows were just him being constipated. Or maybe he thinks you’re too clingy, is meeting him 5 times in the past month too much? But he initiated at least half of those! Oh shit, maybe they were to tell him that he didn’t want to meet up anymore, but once they started hanging out, XuXi was too polite to say anything. Classic XuXi move, being more considerate than his dumbass. He should’ve known this was too good to be true, what the hell was he even thinking? Making a move on some guy he just- 

“ZHENGTING!” 

“AHHHHH!” 

“I was calling your name, and you weren’t answering, you were just mumbling really intensely…” 

“Oh, haha it was nothing, just thinking… about… some… work…things…..” ZhengTing finishes with a smile, and XuXi seems to buy it, shrugging and grabbing ZhengTing’s hand again. It’s not wet. Huh. 

They walk around until the shops start to close, and XuXi comes to a standstill in front of Target. He takes both of ZhengTing’s hands into his own and faces him with an uncharacteristically serious look. Uh oh. 

“Ok, ZhengTing.” XuXi coughs. “It’s been a really awesome month-” 

Oh, God.

“and I really feel like something’s different between us. I don’t wanna be friends anymore.”

Here it comes. 

“Will you go out with me-“

“Yeah, I’m so sorry, I was being really weird and forward and that must’ve been super awkward for- Wait what?” 

ZhengTing dares to open his eyes and Oh My God. A tiny ring with a tiny pearl embedded into the centre has suddenly appeared on ZhengTing's left pinky. He looks up and XuXi is staring at him, eyes wide and mouth open in shock. 

“…Did you not want to-“

“No! No, no, what I mean is,” ZhengTing finally allows himself to breath. “I do want to date you.” 

“Oh Thank God, I was panicking about that this whole day.” XuXi finally relaxes and raises his own hand, which sported a matching pinky ring.

“I got the idea just then lmao! Cause of the thing with my other co-workers. And also your name reminds me of pearl. Is it the same character? My Chinese is totally shit so super sorry if I mixed it u-mmph.“ 

XuXi doesn’t get to say another word as ZhengTing flings his arms around the other’s neck and kisses this sweet, sweet man on the mouth. XuXi eagerly reciprocates, wrapping his giant, muscly arms around ZhengTing’s waist. 

It’s hard to imagine the front of a Target inside of your local shopping mall as a romantic place, but now, it’s ZhengTing’s most favourite place in the entire world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes!!! LuTing nation rise! But they're not out of the woods yet. We still got 3 chapters to go and who knows what could happen 👀 👀 👀 . 
> 
> [twt](https://mobile.twitter.com/wrenlans) if you want to see funny stuff that i rt from other people because the entirety of my one brain cell goes into doing this. 
> 
> Also, yes, I did title this chapter Black Sugar Bubble Milk Tea because of the tooth-rotting fluff.


End file.
